Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) talks with head coach Mike McCarthy after Green Bay was unable to score a touchdown on third down during the second quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, September 22, 2013, at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/MCT)

The sideline spat between Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers was a refreshing, welcomed sight.

After rolling right and throwing the ball away, an incensed Rodgers turned to his coach in disgust. The drive finally stalled and the two went at it. If B.J. Raji doesn’t become Mills Lane, the two would have continued shouting. F-bombs aplenty. Cameras a’rolling.

Love it. This should happen more in sports. In Green Bay, apparently, it should happen more in the fourth quarter, too. Again, a Packer comeback attempt failed. Green Bay’s 34-30 loss at Cincinnati was nothing new.

Yes, it’s plain asinine to paint this quarterback as some career choker — 95% of “choker” debates should be shoved down a garbage disposal. But Rodgers also has not willed Green Bay to many come-from-behind wins. These are the rare statistics that bleed across Rodgers’ glistening resume. He’s 5-17 in games decided by four or fewer points.

Now in his sixth season as a starter, Rodgers has only five fourth-quarter comebacks.

No quarterback can accelerate an offense to 80 mph and race ahead of the opposition better than Rodgers. Period. Comeback attempts have been sparse. Yet, when Rodgers is down late, the offense typically bottoms out. At some point, you’d expect a comeback, a late charge, a memorable fourth-down touchdown as time expires.

Sunday was a familiar problem the Packers can live with in September, but not January.

“You can throw a bunch of numbers into a can and sort them different ways and come up with strengths and weaknesses and you can believe what you want to believe,” McCarthy said Monday. “I think you really have to stay in tune with individuals especially in a team sport where you have 11 people on the field at once.

“We’re definitely aware of that.”

Aware of it because it happened two weeks ago in San Francisco. Both games, the offense couldn’t finish.

The final drive Sunday began promising enough. A third-down completion to the since-released Jeremy Ross. An 18-yarder to Jordy Nelson. The Packers were in striking range, smelling the comeback from Cincinnati’s 20-yard line.

Two batted balls later, the game was over. Another fourth-quarter drive, dissolved.

With that 64.5 passer rating, Rodgers had one of the worst statistical games of his career.

“Aaron is his biggest critic,” offensive coordinator Tom Clements said. “He watched the game. I know he’s upset. He knows he can play better. I expect him to come out and play well. He’ll do what needs to be done to get ready to play.”

Part of the problem is what makes Rodgers great, different.

He won’t force the issue. He won’t drill a pass into double coverage.

So many Sundays, when the time is ticking on a quarterback’s comeback attempt, that’s what happens. A scramble. A crevice of a passing window. A bullet of a pass from the quarterback. Packer fans surely remember this scenario playing out often from, you know, 1992 to 2007.

There’s also those interception stats to ponder. Rodgers has 48 interceptions in 81 starts.

The final 3, 4 minutes of comeback attempts, the ball’s moving fast. Matchups are schemed on the fly. Taking sacks and throwing the ball out of bounds accomplish nothing. Improvisation, chaos reign.

And Rodgers is no fan of chaos.

He refuses to make the drive-killing, game-threatening, bonehead error. He’s an M.D. of the position, completely aware of all risks. Asking a quarterback to flip a 2-minute-drill switch may be unrealistic. Rodgers is much better at building a lead and keeping a lead — and, yes, that counts for something. He won’t put his team in a hole, like Brett Favre often did, like countless starters do.

But he might not gunsling his way out of that hole much, either.

That’s why Rodgers’ errant interception up the right sideline was so odd. He rarely ever floats passes to a receiver’s inside shoulder.

Simply, the Packers need to find a way to execute late with the elite quarterback they have. You can shake up those numbers in “the can” McCarthy described all you want. Comebacks aren’t common around here. Rodgers has lost several close games.

More close games are coming, too.

“A blowout is unusual,” Clements said. “A lot of games are decided in the fourth quarter. So we’ve come up short in two games. We have to find a way to get it done.”

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